Private Corps Likely For Whitehall, Coplay

January 31, 1992|by KIMBERLY L. JACKSON, The Morning Call

Ambulance service in Whitehall Township and Coplay will more than likely be provided by an independent contractor, a committee determined yesterday, but the municipalities will be able to keep an eye on the provider through a monitoring committee.

Bids from potential ambulance service providers may be solicited by the end of next week, members of the search committee said. The committee yesterday discussed service requirements and what conditions bidders would have to meet.

A seven-member committee, rather than an ambulance authority proposed earlier this month, will be in place to monitor the contractor's operations and give the township some control over ambulance service.

Search committee Chairman Charles Gross said the group planned to have a provider to recommend to the township at the March meeting of the township Board of Commissioners. The provider will also have to be approved by the Emergency Medical Services Council.

J.R. Henry, the consultant to the committee, recommended that the township shorten its list of restrictive bid specifications so as not to discourage bidders. The committee yesterday determined which items in the list were necessary and which were desirable. Henry told the group that the municipalities could have all their requirements spelled out in the contract, rather than in the bid specifications.

The group reviewed a draft list of service conditions that bidders would be either required or willing to meet.

One item would require the service provider to pay money to the township if it decided to withdraw service or if township officials deemed the service unacceptable. The damages would have to be paid only if the township was required to hire a new ambulance company.

The selected bidder, according to bid specifications, would not necessarily have the least costly proposal but the one that best meets the municipalities' requirements, Henry said.

Township Executive Betty Buchmiller said she would appoint a seven-member committee, whose members would not necessarily be the same as the search committee's. The monitoring committee would probably meet on a quarterly and an as-needed basis. The committee would include two Coplay representatives. It would monitor the ambulance provider's financial statements and any unusual incidents or complaints related to ambulance service.

At a meeting earlier this month, the committee considered forming an authority that would oversee a municipally owned and operated corps or a corps operated by any provider that might have been selected.

Township solicitor Jeffrey A. Bartges told the group yesterday that forming an authority would take about three months because of state requirements in setting it up. The committee could serve a similar purpose, he said. Cost and time considerations ruled out a municipally operated ambulance service in favor of an independent provider.

Buchmiller said that start-up costs for a township ambulance service would be about $500,000 and that that amount had not been budgeted.

Committee member Steven Frei had said that a municipally owned ambulance corps would be preferable because it would bring greater long-term stability.

"My concerns are for getting the best possible service over the next 20 years," he said. Frei said that such a service would encourage local volunteers, bring increased community spirit and better relations with the area's fire companies.

Other committee members agreed with his views but felt the cost was prohibitive.

"I would like to agree with you," Commissioner Joyce Wheeler said, "but I think the dollars and cents make it impossible at this time."

U.S. HealthTech had provided ambulance service for Whitehall and Coplay until Dec. 31. Cetronia Ambulance Service is providing service until a permanent service is found.

The idea of a municipally run service has not been ruled out. The ambulance service provider would have a contract that would be renewable every three years at the discretion of the township. The period, which coincides with EMS Council review periods, would enable the township to determine whether forming its own service at a later date would be best for the municipalities.